Switching Sides
by ForeverYoungandTangled
Summary: Matt and Mercedes go a long way back. Mercedes is the confident one while Matt walks in her shadow. They've been friends since the day they were both born. They've been through a lot together too. But will high school be too big a challenge for them?
1. Chapter 1

"It's going to be brilliant!" Mercedes was clearly very excited about finally getting to high school. It was a new start and after her week long shopping spree she felt like she could take on anything. Matt, however, wasn't so sure.

"Wow. I really don't get why you are so excited…" He asked her as he got in the car behind the wheel.

"What?" She exclaimed. "Matt, come on. It's a brand new start, especially for us." They were the only two from their previous school going to William McKinley High School. It was closer to their houses and was just easier in general. "It's just us against the world."

"I guess…" Matt hadn't felt like arguing with Mercedes. They'd had a good summer together, with all their old friends and Mercedes was more than ready to leave that all behind. Matt felt a little differently. As happy as he was that his best friend was still with him, he already missed his old friends.

In the end, he and Mercedes had always been different. She was full of energy, bubbly and made friends easily despite her strong headedness and tendency to respect her own opinions much higher than anyone else's. Matt was shy, he didn't like talking to people he didn't know. It made him nervous. Of course, he did make friends; it was something he just put on a brave face for.

Their only similarity was the dream that they shared. They both loved to dance and sing. Mercedes was practically born for it. She was sassy, confident and knew exactly what she wanted. And, boy was she good at singing. In fact, that was an understatement. Words could not describe the intensity of the goose bumps she gave people when she sang. Matt was a lot less confident. He knew he was good, people told him that all the time. He was a natural, he taught himself everything. Even so, some people doubted even that. They thought that he'd just been born with his insane moves imprinted in his mind. He didn't believe in himself the way Mercedes did. He didn't want to disappoint and failing was just not an option. The stage and the spotlight scared him.

"C'mon. CHEER UP MATT!" Mercedes shouted at him, laughing. "I promise, Matt, it will be GREAT!" She punched him playfully on the arm. He smiled half-heartedly, '_That's easy for you to say, but I'm not so sure…' _

For the rest of the journey, they were silent, Mercedes humming along to the songs on the radio. As they turned into the parking lot, Matt's hands were getting sweaty against the wheel. All these people that he didn't know, that he would probably have to talk to sooner or later. It had crossed his mind that maybe he had an anxiety disorder of some sort. His heart beat faster and his hands got sweaty, his vision sometimes blurred whenever he was nervous. But, he didn't bother himself by thinking about it too much.

Matt turned off the ignition and they sat for a minute.

"I'm just nervous." Matt broke the silence with a whisper. "Sometimes you forget how my nerves take me over."

Mercedes sighed. "I know. I'm sorry Matt." She looked at him, but his hands were twisting on the wheel, his eyes staring into the masses of people beyond the windscreen of his car. "Look, I get that this is hard for you. But I can't even pretend to understand. I've never had trouble making friends or meeting new people." Matt let himself go. His hands dropped into his lap and his eyes followed them. It was barely the first day of school and already he was exhausted. Mercedes turned in her seat to continue. "My point is, Matt, together we will be fine. Together, we can do anything, remember?"

He did remember. He remembered the times when they put on capes and made swords and fought pirates from the tree-house in Matt's backyard. And the times they'd roller skate down their street, going so fast they believed they could fly. In kindergarten when the other kids didn't accept Mercedes because she wasn't built the same, they stuck together and Mercedes learnt that people like that don't even matter. Every time a jock taunted Matt for being so quiet, Mercedes would take his hand and suddenly Matt had the courage to do whatever it took to get them to back off. When Matt's brother died, and his whole world fell apart, Mercedes dropped everything to help him put the pieces back together again. To have just one without the other was impossible. Their friendship was unlike any other. It flowed through their blood, like a drug, each one addicted to the other.

"Yeah, I remember." He finally looked at her, wiping his hands down his jeans before taking her hand. They smiled at each other before hugging.

"So," Mercedes broke away first. "Let's get in there and show them all who's gonna rule this school." She spoke with such conviction that it was impossible to not believe her. It was impossible not to believe that they would indeed rule the school.


	2. Chapter 2

Mercedes had to leave Matt after homeroom. The only lesson they were scheduled together for was Math. Matt wasn't too pleased, but he just got on with it, like he always did.

Mercedes walked to her English room, weaving her way between the crowds that weren't in the least bit daunting to her. In fact, despite being quite a bit shorter than most of them, she felt grown up and powerful, like she had just gained all control of herself and her life. She enjoyed the feeling very much. When she got to the right room, half of the desks were taken. She chose one in the middle row, not wanting to seem too eager – by sitting right at the front – or too "couldn't care less" – by sitting at the back. At the table to her left was a skinny Asian girl with long dark hair, and dark clothes to match. She was pretty, and although the Goth look was something Mercedes had never understood, what with her wardrobe being filled with every bright colour under the sun, she knew better than to judge by appearances. So, she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Mercedes." She smiled and the Asian girl smiled back, extending her hand as she spoke.

"Tina." Mercedes took her hand and shook it once.

"So, English, love it or hate it?" Mercedes asked, taking out her notepad, casually, now that the formalities were out of the way.

"Love it, actually." Tina laughed.

And for Mercedes it was as easy as that. For Matt however, well, he may as well have been a mute and nobody would ever have even noticed.

Matt got to his History room pretty quickly, it was just around the corner from his homeroom. He stood outside, leaning on the door frame, bewildered by the number of students pouring out of the room and all the others along that corridor. It was the first day of the semester so, of course, everyone was shouting and screaming, high-fiving and hugging, talking over one another about their holidays. A boy slid up beside him. He was tall and skinny and even as they simply stood there, Matt could practically feel the energy radiating from him. Matt looked the boy up and down as if trying to decide something. The boy caught him looking. Matt's eyes snapped away.

"Mike." The boy said.

"What?" Matt's hands were getting sweaty.

"I'm Mike." He said again.

"Oh, right. I'm Matt."

And that was it, they were walking into the classroom. Matt, unlike Mercedes, took a seat at the back, hiding, hopeful that someone tall would sit in front of him. Mike sat beside him and the lesson went by slowly and silently. From the outside, the boys looked fairly content in their silent "friendship" for want of a better word. Neither of them were big talkers and it worked for them, only speaking to discuss work, otherwise taking comfort in the silence.

By the time lunch came around, Mike and Matt were inevitably friends. They had been in all the same classes so far, and having spoken a few words about football, Matt knew that their afternoons would be spent together too, what with tryouts being scheduled for that afternoon.

Matt had always felt most confident on the football field, in all his gear. Maybe it was because he knew people wouldn't be focusing all their attention on just him, he was part of a team. Or maybe it was because, when he ran down the field, the adrenaline pumping from the knowledge that he was being pursued by another player, he managed to somehow shut the whole world out. Sometimes he even managed to shut his own thoughts out; which is not an easy thing to do.

Plus, there was the fact that he was good. He was one of the fastest on his old team, and on every other team he'd ever been on.

I guess you could say that he had the sort of control over his feet that Mercedes did over her voice, which was what made him a good footballer as well as a great dancer.

Needless to say Mercedes and Tina were getting along like a house on fire. Their endless chatter went from school, to hobbies, to shopping, to clothes, to singing and back round again. It was as they were walking to lunch, talking about music and the songs they loved to sing, that they spotted it. Up on one of McKinley's many bulletin boards was a sign up sheet perfect for them. Glee Club.

"Hey!" Tina exclaimed. "We sh-should totally sign up-p."

Mercedes examined the sheet. There was only one other name written at the top in neat handwriting. 'Rachel Berry'.

"Who do you suppose that is?" Mercedes wondered out loud. "And what is the gold star all about?" She laughed at it, thinking it was kind of pretentious.

"I d-don't know, we'll probably b-beat her out anyway." They both laughed and signed their names on the sheet without much of a thought. They continued to lunch discussing their audition songs. Mercedes was feeling really good. Like all those gut feelings that high school was going to be amazing weren't just feelings, they actually meant something. Already, Mercedes could feel that she was on a journey that would never be forgotten. But in all her excitement there was one thing she did forget…


	3. Chapter 3

Matt sat on the bonnet of his car, waiting. It was lunchtime and everyone was buzzing about. Cars were coming and going as people went off campus to get lunch.

His mum had made him sandwiches that morning. He had thought to himself, 'Please don't get all sentimental on me…'. Of course, she did. That's what mums do on first days. And by the time high school rolls around there aren't too many first days left. She had put his sandwiches, along with an apple in a brown paper bag, rolled down at the top. That bag now sat at the bottom of his back-pack, probably squashed by all the new textbooks he'd been given. Mike passed by with a couple of guys who looked like they would be joining the football team too. He waved at Matt, nodding his head up slightly in that way boys do. Matt returned both the nod and the wave.

Still alone, Matt checked his watch, only ten minutes left of lunch. His stomach was growling at him. He'd been too nervous to eat breakfast and now, despite his body telling him otherwise, he didn't feel hungry now either. 'I must look like such a loser', he thought to himself. If he did look like a loser, nobody seemed to notice. Or care, which, he supposed, was just another factor that contributed to him looking lost and alone. He was getting angry now. Not because Mercedes still hadn't shown, but because he was getting so upset about it that tears were beginning to show in his eyes. Why had she not shown up? How could she have forgotten? Then, he realised. Mercedes had been looking forward to high school, to having new friends and being a star. But Matt hadn't. He wasn't excited and he wasn't ready to be a star. Obviously he was just an anchor Mercedes was finally breaking free from.

Suddenly, Matt didn't feel like going to his afternoon lessons. So, he jumped off his car and started to walk towards the gates. He had no idea where he was going to go; only that he didn't want to talk to anyone. The bell rang out to signal the end of lunch, drowning out the girl calling after him.

The cafeteria was busy. And loud. Mercedes and her new friends were contributing greatly to the volume, not caring at all. It really felt like they had known each other forever. Every topic of conversation was permissible, meaning they talked and talked, about everything. Had Matt been there, he would have kept quiet, as usual, smiling and agreeing with a nod at the right moments, looking fondly as his best friend bloomed right before his eyes in this new environment. But Matt wasn't there. And it was as the conversation turned to the sport teams, the Mercedes realised it.

"I h-heard the football team were r-rubbish," Tina said, "They haven't won anyt-thing in y-years."

"Apparently people only ever go to the games to see the Cheerios." Lucy said. Lucy was a friend of Tina's, which was evident from the dyed hair and heavy make-up.

Mercedes' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "The Cheerios?", she asked.

"Yeah," Tina stopped eating her chips to answer Mercedes. "The Cheerios is what they c-call the Cheer squad h-here. I'm not sure where it c-came from, only that Coach Sylvester came up with it and n-no-one has dared to q-question it." Tina laughed.

"Wow." Mercedes replied. "Remind me to run into her then!"

They all continued to eat quietly until Tina spoke up again. "H-hey Mercedes, isn't that friend of yours a f-footballer?"

"Who, Matt?" Mercedes asked, her memory coming back to her. "Oh my gosh. Matt. I totally forgot!" She picked up her bag, scrambling to get to her phone as she stood up, pushing the table back, knocking her chair over too.

"What's going on? What d-did you forget?" Tina looked slightly alarmed.

"I forgot Matt. No, no, no…" She started to run then, pushing her way through the crowds of people, her phone flashing with six missed calls.

He's going to be so upset, she thought as she finally pushed out of the door to the parking lot. She saw his car, sat exactly where it was left this morning. But Matt wasn't there and for a micro second she felt a pang of hurt, thinking that he too had forgotten. Then she spotted him, bag slung over his shoulder, by the gates, walking away.

"Matt!" She shouted after him but he didn't hear her. She dropped her bag at her feet, stepped over it and ran towards him. "MATT". He still didn't turn around. What have I done? She asked herself, wishing so hard for him to come back that tears were falling down her face.


End file.
